Curtain-stretcher lock and hinge.



No. 732,277. PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903.

R. s. GORLETT. I

CURTAIN STRETGHER LOCK AND HINGE. APPLIOATION rILnn mun 3. 1901.

N0 MODEL.

W ESSESL! INVENTOR fr ATTORNEY UNITED. STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT S. OORLETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WALTER A. MAYR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CURTAlN-STRETCHER'LOCK AND HINGE.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,277, dated June 30, 1903.

Application filed June 3,1901.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT S. CORLETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful. Ourtain-Stretcher Lock and Hinge, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to curtain-stretchers, and has for its object to provide a hinge for the two-piece bars which can be used as a lock to hold the bar rigid when extended and to hold the parts together when folded. I attain these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a twopiece curtain-stretcher bar having my improved hinge and lock applied thereto. Fig.

2 is an edge view thereof, one of the plates being removed. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the bar when folded, and Fig. 4. is a view of a modified form of construction. 7

In the accompanying drawings the several parts of my improvements are indicated by numerals of reference, and in the practice of my invention I provide two similar-angled plates 5 and 6, each of which covers a portion of the bottom and also of the side, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, of the ends of the pieces 7 and 8 of the curtain-stretcher bar, and both plates 5 and 6 are secured to the piece 7 by screws 10.

Mounted on the back of the piece Sis a plate 11, having a raised center 12 of sufficient height to admit of the free movement of a bolt 13, which passes through lugs 14 and 15, integral, respectively, with the plates 5 and 6 and which project above the plane of the plate and back of the bar, and a thumb-nut 16 serves to draw the ends 17 and 18 of the plates Serial No. 62,949. (No model.)

plates 5 and 6 will be drawn against the piece 8, so that the said piece will be clamped between them and a very rigid joint will result. When it is desired; to fold the parts of the bar together, as shown in Fig. 3, the thumb-nut 16 is loosened and the pieces 7 and 8 are slid apart, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, when the piece 7 may be swung back to the position shown in Fig. 3, and by again tightening the nut the lugs 14 and 15 will be drawn against the piece 8 as a clamp and the pieces will be held securely folded.

As shown in the drawings, the ends 19 and 20 of the pieces 7 and 8 are oppositely beveled and so disposed that the end of the piece 7 will overlap the end of the piece 8, and as the parts are folded together backward the pieces must be slid apart some distance ,before the ends will pass, and when clamped together in an extended position the end 20 of the piece 8 will be substantially wedged between the plates 5 and 6 and the beveled end of the piece 7, and this construction will make the bar much more rigid. However, it is not absolutely necessary that the ends of the pieces should be beveled, for if the ends ed until slid apart a short distance, as will be readily understood, and the joint would be quite rigid.

In Fig. 4 I have shown my improvement applied to a bar having a rabbeted edge and movable pin 22. In this construction the plate 5 is wider on the back and narrower on the side and is secured to the back of the bar byscrews 10. The other plate, 6, is narrower on the bottom than the plate 6, but is secured to the bar in the same way as the plate 6. The construction is otherwise just the same as in Figs. 1 to 3. This construction is necessary by reason of the fact that screws could not be passed into the front side of the bar.

It will be noticed that the under side of the plates 5 and 6 are cut' obliquely at the hinged end. This construction enables me to make the plates somewhat shorter as I can place the plate 11 nearer to the end of the piece 8, and as these plates are stamped out of sheet metal I can form the lugs 14 and 15 out of a part of the metal which would otherwise form a part of the bottom of the plates, as will be readily understood. I have also found it desirable to make the plates 5 and 6 somewhat longer than is absolutely necessary to provide for holding the bolts, as when a portion extends beyond the bolt the ends of the plates will not out into the bar, as they would if the plates ended immediately beyond the holes for the bolt.

I have described my hinge and look as being applicable to a two-piece bar; but it is evident that it can be applied to a bar having any number of pieces, and it is also evident that many changes in the details of construction can be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A curtain-stretcher lock and hinge comprising two plates secured to the end of one of the pieces forming the curtain-stretcher bar and projecting to receive the end of the other piece, means to draw the free ends of said plates toward each other, said means being secured to said second piece, for the purpose set forth.

2. A curtain-stretcher lock and hinge comprising two angled plates secured to the end of one of the pieces forming the curtainstretcher bar and overlapping the end of the other piece, each of said plates being provided with lugs which rise above the plane of the side of the bar, a bolt passing through said lugs, and a plate provided with a raised center mounted over said bolt and secured to the side of said second piece, for the purpose set forth.

3. A curtain-stretcher lock and hinge comprising two angled plates secured to the end of one of the pieces forming the curtainstretcher bar, and overlapping the end of the other piece, each of said plates being provided with a lug which rises above the plane of the back of the bar, a bolt passing through said lugs and provided with a thumb-nut, and a plate provided with a raised oblong center mounted over said bolt and secured to the back of said second piece, the contiguous ends of said pieces forming the bar being oppositely beveled from front to back, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A curtain-stretcher lock and hinge comprising two plates secured to the sides of one of the pieces forming the curtain-stretcher bar and projecting beyond the end of said piece to engage the sides of the other piece,

and screw mechanism secured to said second piece and engaging the projecting ends of said plates, for the purpose set forth.

5. A curtain-stretcher lock and hinge comprising two angled plates secured to the sides of one of the pieces forming the bar and overlapping the back thereof and projecting beyond the end of said piece, each of said plates being provided with a lug which rises above the plane of the plate, a bolt passing through said lugs, and provided with a thumb-nut, and a plate, having a raised, oblong center, secured to the other piece over said bolt, said plates extending some distance beyond said bolt, and the bottom portion thereof adjacent to the lugs being cut away, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. A curtain-stretcher lock and hinge comprising two angled plates secured to the sides of one of the pieces forming the bar and overlapping the back thereof and projecting beyond the end of said piece, each of said plates being provided with a lug at the free end thereof which rises above the plane of the plate, a bolt passing through said lugs and provided with a thumb-nut, and a plate, having a raised, oblong center, mounted 011 the other piece over said bolt, the adjacent ends of said pieces forming the bar being oppositely beveled, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a curtain-stretcher a lock and hinge comprising plates bent to engage the back and sides of the pieces forming one of the bars, secured to one of said pieces and projecting to form a socket for the other, screw mechanism secured to said second piece and engaging the projecting portions of said plates whereby the ends thereof may be drawn toward each other, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a curtain-stretcher, a folding bar, a lock and hinge connecting the component parts thereof, the adjacent ends of the pieces composing said bar being oppositely beveled from top to bottom, said beveled ends being held in contact with each other when in a locked position, and when unlocked, being separable sufficiently to allow said beveled ends to pass each other, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT S. CORLETT.

Witnesses:

W. F. DUNHAM, J. V. VVRAITI-I. 

